THE Fiji Law Society (FLS) president Laurel Vaurasi says her organisation is totally against torture and has always been interested in providing lawyers for the first hour procedure.
She said the FLS had worked with, and would continue to work with, legal aid for the benefit of the public and access to justice.
Ms Vaurasi made the statement in response to Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s comments at the inauguration of the UN Convention Against Torture Initiative high-level seminar in Natadola on Wednesday.
The A-G said there had not been much progress from the private bar in participating in the first hour procedure — an initiative where lawyers provide legal representation to suspects within the first hour of their arrest.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum had also said despite the provision of training on the procedure to members of the private bar, including the Fiji Law Society president and a colleague in Geneva in 2016, they had “not been able to gain much traction”.
In response, Ms Vaurasi said the training for the first hour procedure that she and her colleague received in Geneva and London reinforced the need to be part of the same in Fiji.
She said contrary to the statement made by the A-G, they had always been interested in providing lawyers for the first hour procedure.
“Meetings were held with the Director Legal Aid and the Chief Justice where we confirmed our interest to be part of this scheme,” she said.
“We sent a letter to the Director Legal Aid listing all the law firms and private bar lawyers that were interested in this scheme.
“None of the lawyers listed in our letter to the Director Legal Aid were contacted with respect to the lawyer for the first hour procedure.
“The Fiji Law Society and the private bar has always recognised and supported the importance of access to justice and this can be seen in the establishment of the Legal Aid Commission and the Duty Solicitor Scheme.”
